Sexual dysfunction in advanced HIV disease

Abstract

Although there is an emerging body of literature on quality of life in persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease (Barker et al., 1990; Wu et al., 1990; Wachtel et al., 1992), there is a paucity of published data on the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in HIV-infected persons or on the impact of such dysfunction on quality of life. One previous study has reported that 67% of homosexual men with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) reported a decreased libido and 33% reported impotency (Dobbs et al., 1993). We here describe the findings from an investigation of sexual dysfunction in a large group of homosexual men with severe HIV disease.